Cyprus’ effort to draw back skilled Cypriots working abroad is gaining traction, with around 500 professionals now registered on the new Minds in Cyprus platform, according to Deputy Minister to the President Irine Piki.  

The initiative, launched by President Nikos Christodoulides in London earlier this year, is part of a broader push to reverse years of “brain drain” and strengthen the island’s knowledge-based economy.

Earlier reports showed the platform drew more than 300 registrations in its first two weeks, from 23 countries.  

Since then, interest has broadened, with around 130 companies and organisations now posting vacancies, many at senior or specialist level. Salaries range from €50,000 to more than €110,000, in some cases up to €115,000, according to the official site, with additional benefits such as national health scheme (Gesy). 

Piki said most registrants are highly qualified, describing them as people “with skills and heavy CVs,” who hope to “seize professional opportunities and return home”.  

She also pointed out that companies on the platform “express interest in paying for various jobs, with attractive remuneration,” indicating, as she put it, that the demand side “is clearly there”. 

Cyta has also turned to the platform, advertising the vacancy for its next chief executive. 

Beyond job listings, the platform operates as a relocation information hub, offering guidance on schooling, housing, healthcare, and reintegration. This reflects earlier assessments that Cyprus must provide practical support to returning professionals if the campaign is to work. 

At the same time, the government has submitted a new tax-incentive framework to parliament. The bill proposes a 25-per-cent income-tax exemption, capped at €25,000, for Cypriots who lived abroad for more than seven years and worked for at least three.  

The presidency’s action plan outlines further adjustments, raising the exemption from 20 to 25 per cent, increasing the cap to €25,000, shortening the required absence from 15 years to seven, and allowing the 36-month employment criterion to be accumulated within five years. 

According to the finance ministry, the measure carries no direct budgetary cost, as it targets new taxpayers and is expected to broaden the tax base over time.  

The bill also provides for a review every five years and includes a €1,000 subsidy for school fees, recognising that returning families may initially turn to private education. 

Piki described the strengthened incentives as “yet another additional tool for attracting talent from abroad,” stressing that the aim is to “invest in the talent of our compatriots and give them the opportunity to repatriate, to excel in their homeland”. 

However, earlier reporting has also highlighted the scale of the challenge. It was noted that tech now accounts for 14 per cent of GDP, after rising 80 per cent in five years, emphasising the sector’s growing need for talent.  

At the same time, some Cypriots abroad cautioned that “tax alone is not going to be the thing that basically brings people”. Others pointed out that overseas salaries often remain significantly higher than those available at home. 

There is also the personal dimension. One UK-based Cypriot told the Cyprus Mail that living abroad had been the first time he “felt free to express myself”, suggesting that professional and lifestyle considerations continue to play a role in decisions about returning. 

Even so, the government is moving ahead with a second round of talent-attraction events.  

The London launch drew more than 750 attendees in person and over 2,200 online, according to Invest Cyprus, while Christodoulides said the repatriation drive “constitutes a basic component of the government’s strategic planning for the country’s future development”.